Day Fifteen: Valle Sagrado - Sacred Valley

Today we left Cusco for the Sacred Valley where my friend's parents live. We haven't had the time to explore yet but will be spending a few days here in Huayoccari and I cannot wait to walk around here and see more of the mountains that you can see from the house.

Day Eleven: Inca Kola

A few days ago I learned of a drink called Inca Kola. I'm not much into softdrinks but knew that I had to try this one. Inca Kola is of Peruvian origen created by British immigrant John Lindley in 1935. One of the main ingredients is Lemon Verbena so it's almost healthy I guess if there wasn't so much sugar in it. Inca Kola was such a success in Peru that Coca Cola bought the drink to make it known worldwide. Not sure that has happened yet...

Day Nine: Ausangate - The 7 Lakes

Today we left the house as soon as curfew would allow it (4am) and were on our way to Ausangate again, just like a few days ago. This time in a private car and with two of Antonella's brothers. We wanted to see the seven lakes in Ausangate. The whole tour, after a three hour car ride, was about 15km which in itself wasn't the problem. The altitude however was again something that I'm not quite used to. The rainbow mountain is at about 5.000m above sea level and the area of the 7 lakes is maybe a bit lower. Still, I could feel my heart beat fast and my head answered with a headache. The sun was out for most of the day though for a few minutes we had hail and a bit later some rain, too. All in all the lakes were very beautiful but mostly I was stunned by the majestic mountains.

I tried a fruit today that was new to me. It's called granadilla.

Me and the gang in the background

Those furry white things are a type of cactus.

Locals on their motorbikes to see the lakes

And we saw alpakas again today, some even clothed with cotton shirts.

Alpakas everywhere

Day Six: Ausangate - The Mountain of 7 Colors

This morning we were picked up before 5am to go on a full day tour to see the Ausangate mountain of 7 colors also called The Rainbow Mountain. Around 7am we stopped and got some breakfast before going back into the mini van for another hour. We had arrived at a height of about 5.000m above sea level. Just to give you an idea: Cusco is located about 3.400m above sea level so while being in the mini van we kept going up and up and up. Once we reached the official entrance of the area of Vinicunca we got out of the car and started walking. Of course upwards. The view was breathtaking.

The air was so thin and with so little oxygen that I had to stop after every few meters in order to catch my breath. My heart was beating quickly and my head was getting more and more dizzy.

We had seen some while looking out of the mini van but now we were getting so close to them: alpakas!

Because most people are not used to the thin air, local people are ready with their horses to take anyone up who would like to take that service. One of the men smiled at us and asked: "Taxi?"

Then we started seeing the different colors on the mountains.

Once in a while I would still look back while taking a short break to see that this view was equally breathtaking!

These are the last few steps before reaching the destination.

This is a mountain! 

We made it all the way up there. More than once I thought I would lose consciousness and I had to hold on to my friend. 

Once we reached the top we were able to sit down, enjoy a cup of té de coca (coke leaves in hot water, also used for chewing while walking up that mountain which I tried but didn't like very much), watch one of the locals fry alpaka meat, and offer it to the tourists.

After about an hour enjoying the view, taking pictures, drinking tea, and thinking about the alpaka meat we had to start walking down which was so much easier than the trip up to the rainbow mountain.

Alpakas everywhere!

The "taxis" were also going down.